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After the attempted coup and the asylum given to the 8 Turkish officers who are accused in Turkey of being coup instigators and Gullenists, a new Turkish “community” has been created in Greece! Thousands of Turks, mostly Guillenists, come to Greece by any means, seek asylum and settle in the country.

Twenty seven months have passed since the attempted coup against Erdogan and during that period 5876 Turkish citizens, most of them accused in Turkey as members of the FETO (Fethullah terrorist organization), have applied for asylum in Greece. This number is increasing rapidly, as in October alone, 706 Turks came to Greece and have applied for asylum, while in January-October a total of 3807 Turks requested asylum and most live in Athens.

The numbers show that the flow is increasing each month. In 2013, only 17 people had applied for asylum in Greece. In 2014 41, while in 2015 42 Turkish citizens had applied for asylum. In 2016, after the coup attempt had been made against Erdogan, the requests throughout the year did not exceed 186, despite the fact that thousands of citizens had already been arrested in Turkey, accused of having been involved in the coup attempt one way or another.

2017, however, was a crucial year, as the decision of the Greek justice not to extradite the 8 Turkish officers who escaped to Greece with a military helicopter “sent a message” to Gulenists to ask for asylum. Since the Greek justice system granted asylum to officers of the Turkish armed forces who were accused in Turkey of being directly involved in the attempted coup, it was certain that it would be given to all who would come.